Kraft-Tharp Bill to Improve Heart Attack Care Passes House

(March 7) – A bipartisan measure by Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp, D-Arvada, to improve hospital care for heart attack patients earned final approval from the House this morning with a 39-24 vote.

HB17-1246 is the first bill to implement the recommendations of the STEMI (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, a very serious type of heart attack) task force, which was created in 2013 to address the coordination of care for patients and make recommendations for improvements.

“I’m bringing this bill in honor of my aunt, MaryAnne Fay, who had a heart attack when she was 50 and has spent the last 30 years dedicating her life to ensuring that we reduce the occurrence of heart attacks,” said Rep. Kraft Tharp.

The bill calls for all hospitals that choose to be accredited as “STEMI Receiving Centers” to submit information about survival for heart attack patients and their cardiac system of care to the NCDR Action Registry, encourages all PCI Centers (hospitals that perform coronary angioplasty) to report the same information and allows the Department of Public Health and Environment to request national benchmarking information while protecting hospital privacy. These steps will help Colorado hospitals improve care and patient outcomes.